PAX Prime 2014: ‘Never Alone’ Hands On

When the trailer for Never Alone came out earlier this year we at Geekscape were blown away. More specifically I was blown away. Living in Alaska all my life, it was really refreshing to see the Alaskan Native culture as the catalyst for a narrative driven game.

Well wandering around PAX sixth floor this year, I was elated to see the team from Upper One Games and E-Line Media had a proud booth setup. I walked up to the booth and introduced myself to the head of PR for E-Line Media, Elziabeth, and I got the full behind the scenes rundown of Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna).

The team behind Never Alone worked closely with the Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC) to make sure the game was as authentic as possible. They made numerous trips to the Alaskan North Slope to visit tribal elders to show them the product they were working on. The game follows an old Inupiat story about an endless blizzard that is ravaging a small village. In the story a small child decides to go out into the storm to find the source of the storm to stop it. The main character in the story never had a gender, so the team chose to go with a girl, as females are severely underrated in gaming. The art direction is HEAVILY influenced by Alaskan Native culture, and the aesthetic is incredible. You can tell the team working on Never Alone truly cared to represent the Alaskan Natives properly.

Sitting down to actually play the game and I was instantly hooked. You take up the role of Nuna and her Arctic Fox. If you are playing alone you can switch back and forth between them, but the game features full on single screen COOP. Gameplay is simple and each character has their own perks, the fox has the ability to see spirits and use their help in the environment. I played through the short demo they had available and was instantly sold on the game. The gameplay was easy to pick up, but the puzzles were challenging enough that it took multiple attempts at some of the later ones.

Never alone comes out on November 4th on the Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PC for $15. I highly suggest anyone who is a fan of games like Journey to pick this up. It would be a great game to introduce non-gamers to.